1. Field of the Invention
One or more embodiments of the present invention relate to a photoelectric conversion device, and more particularly, to a photoelectric conversion device having excellent durability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Extensive research has recently been conducted on photoelectric conversion devices that convert light into electric energy. From among such devices, solar cells have attracted much attention as alternative energy sources to fossil fuels.
As research on solar cells having various working principles has been continuously conducted, wafer-based crystalline silicon solar cells using a p-n semiconductor junction have appeared to be the most prevalent ones. However, the manufacturing costs of wafer-based crystalline silicon solar cells are high because they are made out of a high purity semiconductor material.
Unlike silicon solar cells, dye-sensitized solar cells include a photosensitive dye that receives visible light and generates excited electrons, a semiconductor material that receives the excited electrons, and an electrolyte that reacts with electrons returning from an external circuit. Since dye-sensitized solar cells have much higher photoelectric conversion efficiency than other conventional solar cells, the dye-sensitized solar cells are viewed as the next generation solar cells.